Lot 3790
1802/1 $5 Capped Bust. Sharpness of EF-40. Cleaned long ago but because of the intervention of time, the surface has now toned an attractive "old gold"color and will likely keep on doing so as it stabilizes. An attractive example of this early issue. All 1802 half eagles are overdates. All 1802 quarter eagles are overdates. For that matter, all 1803 half eagles also are overdates. There must have been something in the beer ration given to the mint workers in 1802-03 that caused this anomoly! (Yes, mint workmen got a daily ration of beer in those days -- brewed libations were safer to drink than the local water from wells.).
Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,400.
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| Realized $4,600 |
